PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The development plans for the Walyering gasfield, in Western Australia, are continuing apace, the joint venture partners reported on Tuesday.

ASX-listed Strike Energy, which holds a 55% interest in the project and is the operator, told shareholders that the environmental plan for the construction and commissioning of the gasfield has now been approved.

The company said it had now received multiple key regulatory approvals to support the construction and commissioning of the project, with the only remaining approval being Strike’s safety case, which will manage the safety systems for production operations. This approval is expected in the coming weeks.

Strike on Tuesday said that with the environmental plan approval now in place, the company could start construction work based on its existing safety management system, with construction expected to take six weeks to complete. Gas production and sales are expected in April, subject to the completion of energy infrastructure business APA Group’s Parmelia gas pipeline and final quality assurances of the upstream facility.

The upstream facility remains largely on budget, however, cost increases have been incurred in the well completions, increased scope associated with improving facility reliability, and APA’s pipeline connection, Strike said. Overall Strike’s latest estimate indicates that the upstream scope is now A$19.2-million with APA’s scope increasing to A$3.8-million.

Joint venture (JV) partner Talon Energy noted that the cost increases incurred have been for the well completions, the increased scope associated with improving facility reliability, and APA’s pipeline connection.

The JV sanctioned the development of the 33 TJ/d and 250 bbl/d production facility at the Walyering gasfield following the successful appraisal of the field via the Walyering 5 and 6 wells, which delineated a gross 54 PJ of 2P reserves and gross 32 PJ of 2C contingent resources plus 0.8-million barrels of oil equivalent of associated condensates.

First gas sales are targeted in April 2023 with 36.5 PJ of gas sold to Santos-WA Limited on a firm basis over a period of five years.